Major communications trade groups filed a petition Thursday asking the FCC for a rulemaking on its enforcement procedures, especially in light of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2024 Jarkesy decision about whether federal regulatory agencies can bring in-house proceedings to enforce civil penalties. CTIA, the Competitive Carriers Association, NCTA, USTelecom and the Wireless Infrastructure Association filed the petition.
CTIA’s proposal that the FCC launch a rulemaking to update its rules implementing the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) is facing huge backlash from states and tribal groups (see 2503270059). CTIA also asked the commission to tackle restrictions under the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA). The petition received support from industry. Comments were due Wednesday in RM-12003.
The FCC released the drafts of the three items set for a vote during the commission’s May 22 meeting, including the “bad labs” order and Further NPRM, which downplays some concerns raised by industry last year (see 2409050017). Also on the agenda are foreign-ownership rules and an NPRM looking at satellite broadband (see 2504300049).
Deficit reduction is driving spectrum policy and an auction means money for the Treasury, but lawmakers shouldn’t ignore Wi-Fi's growing role, said WifiForward Executive Director Mary Brown during a Broadband Breakfast webinar Wednesday. Brown said she expects action in the House and Senate on spectrum legislation in the next four to 10 weeks, restoring FCC auction authority and identifying some bands for auction. Still to be determined is how specific Congress will be in picking bands and the timelines it will impose, she said.
CTIA expressed support for a possible auction of upper C-band spectrum, though broadcasters, aviation companies and some commenters were more skeptical, warning of harmful interference with other operations, among comments that were due Tuesday on the upper C-band notice of inquiry, which the FCC approved in February (see 2502280032). It explores the 3.98-4.2 GHz band's future.
What will come out of the FCC’s “Delete” proceeding is hard to say at this point, since it builds on other FCC efforts to cut regulations, experts said during a webinar Wednesday by the Center for Business and Public Policy at Georgetown University. The FCC has logged more than 1,100 comments so far in docket 25-133, with replies due this week (see 2504290054 and 2504290038).
The FCC will consider rules growing out of last year’s “bad lab” NPRM during the commission’s May 22 meeting, Chairman Brendan Carr said Wednesday. Also on the agenda are foreign-ownership rules and an NPRM about spectrum for satellite broadband. Drafts will be posted Thursday.
One change of note in the 37 GHz order and Further NPRM approved 4-0 on Monday by the FCC (see 2504280032), when compared with the draft version, is the addition of language on the development of a dynamic spectrum management system (DSMS) in the band. The FCC posted the approved item Tuesday. It “does not foreclose the adoption of a DSMS in the future,” the FNPRM now says: “We seek comment on the possibility of replacing the coordination framework we adopt today with a DSMS. What metrics might the Commission use to determine that use of the 37 GHz band has reached sufficient scale to merit further exploration of adopting a DSMS to coordinate use of the band?”
CTIA urged the FCC to schedule an AWS-3 reauction without delay and dismiss calls for a tribal licensing window, according to reply comments on a March public notice on FCC bidding procedures. The record that’s been developed “demonstrates broad support for the Commission’s proposed procedures, including the efficient, time-tested Clock-1 auction format,” CTIA said this week in docket 25-117. In initial comments, the group disagreed sharply with tribal interests that urged a tribal window (see 2504110040).
The GPS Innovation Alliance and Resilient Navigation and Timing Foundation (RNTF) urged the FCC to take a broad view of the complementary technologies that can provide positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) as a GPS alternative. NTIA supported PNT diversity, while other commenters continued arguments over NextNav’s proposal to use the 902-928 MHz band for a “terrestrial complement” to GPS (see 2504280045). Initial comments were due Monday on an FCC notice of inquiry.